PHP Extension

Start a Remote Shell with QuickShell

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ssh.QuickShell method, which starts a remote shell using the simplified sequence OpenSessionChannel → SendReqPty → SendReqShell. It takes no arguments and returns the shell channel number, or -1 on failure. The default PTY size is 80 columns by 24 rows.

Background: Note that QuickShell does allocate a PTY, so unlike a bare SendReqShell the remote shell runs interactively: it prints a command prompt, echoes the commands you send, and runs interactive login scripts. That is convenient for terminal-style work but means the output contains prompts and echoed input that scripted parsing must tolerate. The method returns as soon as the shell request is accepted — it does not consume the initial login text or prompt, so read and discard that before relying on command output.

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PHP Extension

<?php

include("chilkat.php");

$success = false;

//  Demonstrates the Ssh.QuickShell method, which starts a remote shell using the simplified
//  sequence OpenSessionChannel, SendReqPty, and SendReqShell.  It takes no arguments and returns
//  the shell channel number, or -1 on failure.  The default PTY size is 80 columns by 24 rows.

$ssh = new CkSsh();

$sshPort = 22;
$success = $ssh->Connect('ssh.example.com',$sshPort);
if ($success == false) {
    print $ssh->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
//  from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
$password = 'mySshPassword';

$success = $ssh->AuthenticatePw('mySshLogin',$password);
if ($success == false) {
    print $ssh->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  Start the shell.  Note that QuickShell allocates a PTY, so the remote shell runs
//  interactively: it prints a command prompt and echoes the commands that are sent to it.
$channelNum = $ssh->QuickShell();
if ($channelNum < 0) {
    print $ssh->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  QuickShell returns as soon as the shell request is accepted -- it does not wait for or
//  consume the initial login text or prompt.
$success = $ssh->ChannelSendString($channelNum,'uname -a; echo DONE_MARKER\n','utf-8');
if ($success == false) {
    print $ssh->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  IMPORTANT: Set a read timeout before receiving until a match.  ReadTimeoutMs defaults to 0,
//  which means no limit -- without it, this call waits forever if the received data never
//  contains a match.
$ssh->put_ReadTimeoutMs(15000);

$caseSensitive = false;
$success = $ssh->ChannelReceiveUntilMatch($channelNum,'DONE_MARKER','utf-8',$caseSensitive);
if ($success == false) {
    print $ssh->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

$output = $ssh->getReceivedText($channelNum,'utf-8');
if ($ssh->get_LastMethodSuccess() == false) {
    print $ssh->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print $output . "\n";

$ssh->Disconnect();

?>